


Christmas With a Demon

by ZoneRobotnik



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Mistletoe, Swear jar, bill cipher redemption arc, caroling, it's Christmas, stan sees a bit of himself in the homeless demon bum
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-25
Updated: 2016-03-07
Packaged: 2018-05-03 09:43:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 17,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5285954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZoneRobotnik/pseuds/ZoneRobotnik
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bill, his powers severely drained by his defeat at Wierdmageddon, is trapped in Gravity Falls and while he hid from everyone during the entirety of Fall, when the twins came back for Winter Break to spend Christmas with their uncles, Dipper discovers Bill sick from the Holy energy and hiding in the snowy woods.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Winter Break

**Author's Note:**

> Gravity Falls (c) Alex Hirsch and Disney XD
> 
> (A.N: This production assumes that no one dies.)

Weirdmaggedon had left everyone feeling out of sorts, but the disappearance of the tyrant Bill Cipher had made it easier on everyone to recover from the damage. The younger Pines twins gave a tearful farewell as they returned to Piedmont, California.  
  
After a stressful school year, they were ready to go back to Gravity Falls for Winter Break. They called ahead to make sure it was okay, then packed up to go.  
  
"Look, I see it!" Mabel pointed to the replacement "Welcome to Gravity Falls" sign as the Speedy Beaver approached its destination.  
  
"All the trees have their leaves, it's like a bajillion Christmas Trees!" Mabel said excitedly.  
  
"Well, they ARE coniferous trees. Also known as evergreens." Dipper said matter-of-factly.  
  
Mabel grinned and lightly shoved him. "Neeeerd." She blew a razzberry.  
  
Dipper shrugged and then they both laughed.  
  
 **–**  
  
"Kids!" Stan greeted as they got out of the Speedy Beaver. "Welcome back, we all missed you!" He threw his arms around them tightly.  
  
"Let's get them back to the Shack where it's warm, Stan." Ford said from his place by the car.   
  
"Yeah, yeah." Stan released them and grinned. "Let's get you home!"  
  
On the drive home, Stan talked about the recovery efforts and business at the Shack. "It's the off-season, but tourists still come and the locals come by to buy stuff to replace things they got here and lost."  
  
"Good to know business is still booming!" Mabel grinned.  
  
"Anything interesting and new, Great Uncle Ford?" Dipper asked him.  
  
"Mm, no, not really." Ford sighed. "Most strange creatures are hiding away from the cold."  
  
"But, if you want to take a stroll, the woods are beautiful in the snow!" Stan suggested. "Check it out yourself, before the rain comes and washes it away!"  
  
Dipper adjusted his coat and nodded. "Sounds like a good idea, yeah."  
  
"Ohh, take pictures!" Mabel said, pulling out a camera from her bag.  
  
Dipper laughed. "I've got my own, thanks."  
  
 **–**  
  
The trip into the woods was surprisingly quiet, but then again Ford HAD said everyone was hiding away. "Multibear must be hibernating." He said to himself, snapping a few pictures of the snowy wood.  
  
After taking enough to satisfy Mabel, he walked on, singing to himself. "Oh, you better not shout. You better not cry. You better not pout, I'm telling you why. Santa Claus is coming to town.”  
  
He looked around, enjoying the sounds of winter as he continued. "He's making a list, and checking it twice. Gonna find out who's naughty or..." He faded off, feeling a familiar gaze on him.

He knelt down to examine something in the snow and palmed a small rock. Then he suddenly whipped around and threw the rock into the trees. It hit and something yellow hit the snowy forest floor. "I knew it." He muttered, walking over to the prone figure.  
  
His clothes were in tatters and his hair was a mess, but he would know that yellow coat and black top-hat anywhere. "Bill Cipher. What are you doing back?"  
  
"I never left." Bill mumbled into the snow. "I couldn't. Without my powers, I'm stuck here." He pushed himself up to his hands and knees. "Stuck in this...pissant little hick town, hiding away because I can't even defend myself."  
  
Dipper noticed the demon seemed short of breath. "...Are you sick?"  
  
"Ugh, don't go pitying me, Pine Tree. It's this stupid Holy Day, everyone's singing songs and spreading the Holy energy and it's making me sick, yes." Bill placed a gloved hand against a tree and pushed himself to his feet before slumping to his knees again. "Kch..."  
  
Dipper watched him try and fail to get up a couple more times before he spoke up."You can't fly?”  
  
"Can't fly, can't shapeshift, can't even use a basic fire spell. This Holy Day drains Demons of our powers and energy, making us weak." Bill slumped to his knees again, panting heavily. "Physical forms...suck like that."  
  
Dipper sighed and extended a hand. "Come on. Let's at least get you out of the cold."  
  
Bill stared at him, a silent question in his eye. Then he slowly reached up to take his hand. "Why?"  
  
"Because 'peace on Earth, goodwill to all men'." Dipper pulled him up to his feet and gave him support with his other arm. "You really shrank..." he commented, noticing that Bill was only a little taller than him now.  
  
"No powers." Bill said dully, stumbling a bit as Dipper started to walk them back to the Shack.  
  
 **–**  
  
"Hey, brobro! Did you find something...?" Mabel stopped short when she saw who Dipper was supporting. "BILL?! I thought we killed you or something!"  
  
Bill gave a grimace before slumping against Dipper. "Just take me back to the woods." He murmured into Dipper's shoulder.  
  
"He's sick and powerless, Mabel. I couldn't just leave him in the snow!" Dipper said, ignoring Bill's suggestion.  
  
"Uhh, why not? And what is he even doing back here?" Mabel placed her hands on her hips.  
  
"He said that when we beat him, his powers were severely weakened and he couldn't leave. He's been stuck in Gravity Falls, hiding from everyone." Dipper explained.  
  
"Seriously, just take me back to the woods." Bill insisted quietly.  
  
"Well, his friends left without a problem!" Mabel pointed out.  
  
"We didn't defeat his friends! They left after their host got his butt kicked!" Dipper reminded her.  
  
Mabel sighed. "Dipper, I'm all for the whole 'caring for the homeless, injured, and hungry thing', but--"  
  
"But it IS Christmas." Dipper was surprised when Stan poked his head out. "And if he's powerless, what can he do to us? If he misbehaves, we'll just lock him in a closet for a few hours like a regular misbehaving kid!"  
  
"Besides," Dipper coaxed. "don't you think even Bill deserves redemption?"  
  
Mabel looked at the door. "...Great Uncle Ford? Your call!"  
  
Ford stepped out, looking at Bill thoughtfully. Bill was now murmuring for Dipper to not only take him back to the woods, but to stab him and leave the knife in so it wouldn't heal. "Well...as Stan said, it IS Christmas. And it would be nice to have him at our mercy for a little while."  
  
Mabel shrugged. "Oookay, then. Let the Bill Cipher Redemption Arc commence!" She raised her arms dramatically and walked back in.  
  
Dipper grinned and shifted Bill's weight, ignoring his quiet pleas to just kill him now and get it over with, then walked up the steps into the house, Ford and Stan stepping to the side to let them in.  
  
 **–**  
  
"The first thing we should do for your Redemption Arc is to make you a Redemption Sweater." Mabel said, pushing Bill onto the couch and rummaging in her knitting bag. "Plus, y'know, your coat is a mess."  
  
"It'll mend itself." Bill mumbled, feeling like he was going to collapse. Wow, why was the room spinning?  
  
"Wow, your clothes can do that? What else can--" She was cut off by an audible thump and looked over to see Bill on the floor. "Oh, great. Great Uncle Ford, how do we tend to a demon's fever?" She called, rolling him onto his back and starting to measure his torso.  
  
Dipper and Ford both came into the room. "Hmm, I think they mostly just sleep it off and their body's natural energy does the work." Ford knelt next to Bill, watching as Mabel unfastened his jacket and none-too-gently rolled him over so she could take it off. "Let's start with moving him from the couch. He can borrow my bed, I hardly use it."  
  
"Then what did we buy it for?!" Stan yelled from the other room.  
  
"No one was talking to you, Stanley!" Ford yelled back.  
  
"I don't like hearing about my money being wasted, Stanford!" Stan retorted.  
  
Dipper shook his head and chuckled, picking Bill up from the floor and half-dragging him to Ford's bedroom. "Come on, Bill. Wow, you're kind of heavy when you're passed out."  
  
"People normally are." Mabel said as she picked out different shades of yellow and examined them critically. "Comes with having a physical body, y'know."  
  
Ford stood up and went to help Dipper with transporting the demon. With his help it went much faster and Ford rummaged in his bag until he found some rope, which he used to tie Bill to the bed like a leash. "Just in case we don't hear him wake up."  
  
"I wonder if demons need to eat?" Dipper asked thoughtfully.  
  
"They do in my experience." Ford finished tying the rope and stood back. "Now, let's go help Stan with putting up the tree!"


	2. Prison

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bill wakes up feeling a bit better, but still too weak to escape whatever the Pines family has in mind for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gravity Falls (c) Alex Hirsch and Disney XD

Bill woke up to a wooden ceiling. His initial reaction was to bolt up and look for the closet door, but then he realized he was on a bed and there was no bed in the closet. Sighing, he tried to think of where he was instead and noticed rope around his waist and a white landscape out the window.  
  
"...Right. Pine Tree." He mumbled, then looked at the rope before starting to untie it. He'd escaped jail cells and handcuffs, did they really think rope could hold him? He finished untying it and slowly got off the bed. He went to the window, but there was no way to open it - not without attracting attention, at least. That left the door.  
  
He walked over to it and pressed his ear against the wood, listening closely. He could hear distant conversation...Stan...Stanford...that was Pine Tree. And there was Mabel. Which meant no one was guarding the door. Good.   
  
Bill slowly opened the door and stepped out into the hall, moving quietly. He passed the noisy room with the fireplace that was being decorated and made his way to the front--shoot, the shop door had a bell! He'd have to take the back door out.  
  
He carefully passed the room again and was almost to the back door when he passed by the sleeping pig and it let out a squeal before getting up.  
  
"Okay...not sleeping." Bill quickly stepped back from the pet that was clearly ready to charge at him. "Nice piggy...just calm down..."  
  
In the other room, Mabel heard a crash and Waddles' grunting and squealing. She looked at the others and then set down her knitting, the four going to the back door.  
  
"Well." Ford remarked when they got to the source of the commotion. "I'd say that nap did the trick. He's looking much better now."  
  
Bill was being pinned down by Waddles sitting on his back, a coat-rack overturned nearby.  
  
"Good work, Waddles!" Mabel grinned.  
  
"Need some help, Bill?" Dipper chuckled, making no move to actually help him.  
  
Bill just glared at them and huffed, laying his head on his arms in frustration.  
  
 **–**  
  
"Now, it's not done yet. I got a few more rows to do, and then I'm gonna put words on it." Mabel held the sweater she was working on up to Bill's torso. "What do you think, good color choice?"  
  
"Matches his glow." Stan remarked as he dug around in the boxes of Christmas stuff. "Since you're up, I'm putting you to work! Here's the box of non-breakables." He pulled Bill to his feet by his arm and handed him the box. "Get to decorating!" He shoved him towards the tree.  
  
Dipper chuckled as he was joined by the disgruntled demon. "Relax, this is the Pagan part of Christmas, it won't make you pass out to decorate the tree."  
  
"Let's put on some music!" Stan walked over to a stereo.  
  
"It's making me feel ill just being near this...cheer." Bill gestured to the decorations as "We wish you a Merry Christmas" started to play on the CD.  
  
"Lighten up, we're just getting started!" Dipper slapped his back, making Bill stumble forward a bit.  
  
'"At our mercy" was right, even Pine Tree's being brutal!' He thought as he started putting ornaments in random places. He had to admit, though, he deserved everything they did to him.   
  
"Oh, we should go out and make snow angels tomorrow!" Mabel suggested.  
  
"If the weather allows for it, forecast says rain tomorrow." Ford told her as he set up lights around the inside of the house.  
  
"Aww, dumb!" Mabel pouted.  
  
"We're in the Northwest, what do you expect?" Stan laughed. "We'll see what happens, okay sweetie?"  
  
Mabel grinned. "Okay!"  
  
"How did you survive Christmas before?" Dipper asked Bill.  
  
"I was just an ethereal entity." Bill sighed, looking at a decoration with distaste. "Where do you get these appearances for Angels from? They don't have wings."  
  
Dipper shrugged. "I dunno, they fly so people assume they have wings."  
  
"I fly without wings." Bill huffed, hanging the ornament up. "You humans can't even get basic facts right, it's no wonder you keep mixing and matching with other religions."  
  
Dipper chuckled. "Can't argue with that!"  
  
Bill gave a small smirk in response before the frown returned and he silently continued his work.

Dipper watched him as he worked, frowning a bit. "You could smile a little, you know.”  
  
"Yes, sir. As you command, sir. Would you like fries with that, sir?" Bill asked sarcastically with a big smile.  
  
Mabel busted up laughing and had to put down her work for a bit."It was just a suggestion." Dipper frowned.  
  
"Not like you smiled while in your prison." Bill said in a falsely-pleasant tone. "But, hey, who am I to break the rules of mine?" He put up the last ornament and stalked off to glare at the fireplace.  
  
"Aw, he'll come around." Stan assured Dipper.  
  
 **–**  
  
"Well? What do you think?" Mabel asked, standing next to Bill in front of the full-length mirror. "Do you like it?"  
  
"'Ex-Tyrant', huh?" Bill remarked, reading the backwards letters in the mirror. "I guess that's fair."  
  
"But do you liiiiike it?" She asked.  
  
"I look like a nerd." He reached up and untied his bowtie. "Bowtie and sweater? Come on."  
  
"Hm, your lack of response disturbs me." Mabel said with a serious expression.  
  
"It doesn't make me feel like setting fire to myself for wearing it." Bill told her. "Best you're getting."  
  
"Tie your bowtie, you look like someone trying too hard to not look like a nerd." Dipper jibed as he walked over. "Cocoa's ready if you want it."  
  
"I do!" Mabel ran off, leaving Bill and Dipper at the mirror.  
  
"...Shit, you're right." Bill sighed, tying the bowtie again.  
  
"Don't swear." Dipper swatted his head.  
  
Bill responded by saying something in Demonic and shooting him a glare.  
  
"Don't make me start a swear jar. Instead of money you'll write 'Sorry' on a slip of paper each time." Dipper threatened.  
  
"You know what?" Bill turned to him. "Fuck. Off." He walked away from the mirror.  
  
Dipper sighed. "Grunkle Stan, I need a clean, empty jar!" He walked after Bill towards the kitchen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, Bill's gone and done it now.


	3. Repetitive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Bill refuses to adhere to the swear-jar, Dipper comes up with a much worse punishment for Bill's swearing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gravity Falls (c) Alex Hirsch and Disney XD

"No." Bill glared at the pencil and slips of paper in front of him.  
  
"Write 'sorry' on each of them and put them in the jar." Dipper said firmly. "In English."  
  
"And if I don't?" Bill challenged.  
  
"Then Mabel and I are going to take you caroling." Dipper said firmly. "Get some goodwill in that black heart of yours."  
  
Bill scowled. "Do your worst, I'm not writing."  
  
Dipper slapped his hand on the table and stood up. "Mabel, get my extra coat and the caroling book!"  
  
Mabel poked her head in. "Told you he wouldn't do it."  
  
"Had to try." Dipper sighed.  
  
Bill was pulled to the back door and a winter coat was tugged on him and fastened by Mabel, Bill of course not being any help himself the whole time. Stan found his old winter hat and jammed it on his head, the tophat vanishing as he did. Then his neck and chin were buried in a scarf and he was being shoved out the door while Dipper looked for the sappiest, most goodwill song he had in the book.  
  
"You can be really diabolical when you want to be." Bill remarked as they walked down the road to the town. "Subjecting me to this kind of torture, I didn't think you had the stomach for it." He smirked at Dipper.  
  
"All you had to do was write 'sorry'. That's all you had to do!" Dipper glared at him.  
  
"Did I have to mean it?" Bill asked.  
  
"It would have been pointless if you didn't." Dipper said through clenched teeth.  
  
"Then it would have been pointless." Bill said with a grin.  
  
Mabel looked at Dipper. "Hey, it was your idea to give him a redemption arc."  
  
Dipper groaned.  
  
 **–**  
  
Wendy had to admit, she hadn't expected to open the door to find the demon that had tormented the entire town being held in place by his two worst enemies with a caroling book being held in front of him by the twins.   
  
"Do it, Bill. Like you mean it." Dipper said to him.  
  
Bill rolled his eyes. "This is because of the forks, isn't it?"  
  
"Yes. Now do it." Dipper indicated the book.  
  
Bill sighed, looking at the words with distaste as he sang along with Dipper and Mabel. "We wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Good tidings we bring to you and your kin. Good tiding for Christmas and a Happy New Year. We wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year."

Wendy chuckled. "Okay, I'm definitely visiting you guys to learn the story behind this." She gestured to Bill, who scowled in response before pulling free and walking off.  
  
"See you, Wendy!" Mabel grinned before following Dipper.  
  
"See you." Dipper nodded with a smile, waving as he followed the other two.  
  
"Next time, something less repetitive." Bill said as they caught up to him.  
  
"Are you ready to write, now?" Dipper asked.  
  
"I still don't feel sorry." Bill said in a sing-song tone.  
  
"Ugh!" Dipper groaned."Why did I ever think you would be a good person?"  
  
"I don't know, you're well-aware of what I am." Bill shrugged.  
  
"Relax, Dipper. He's just trying to rile you up. Keep the goodwill, remember?" Mabel coaxed.  
  
Dipper took a deep breath and released it. "Alright, next house. And this time we're singing Jingle Bells!"  
  
 **–**  
  
"Hey, do you think this is really a good idea?" Stan asked as he poured Ford another cup of cocoa. "I mean, letting the kids pick on him?"  
  
"He deserves everything coming to him." Ford set down the newspaper and accepted the drink.  
  
"Yeah, but he's trapped, helpless, and sick. He spent forever trapped in some decaying dimension before this and while he hurt a lot of people, no one actually died." Stan sighed. "Sure, his party got...out of hand, but he seems like some kid that just wasn't brought up right. Maybe he was thrown out before he could fully grow up..." He poured himself a mug and sat down, letting the unspoken "like me" hang in the air between them.  
  
"Stanley..." Ford sighed. "He's a criminal."  
  
"So am I. I do a lot of crimes even when I don't need to." Stan looked at him. "And I'm sure your hands aren't entirely clean after thirty years in another dimension."  
  
"Yes, but that's not--"  
  
"We demand redemption and apologies and hurt him deliberately, but maybe he doesn't do it because he's afraid to show weakness?" He picked up one of the empty slips of paper. "It took the end of the world for you to finally thank me and apologize for letting dad throw me out. Maybe he needs something drastic, too. Pushing for an apology or a thank you or even a 'please' never helped anyone." He set the slip down. "Forcing it will never get the sincerity we want out of him."  
  
Ford stared at the steaming liquid in his mug, mulling over Stan's words. "...Alright. You're right. I'll have a talk with Dipper when they get back."  
  
"Actually, it might be better if I do." Stan shook his head. "You tend to focus on logic and completely overlook the emotional part of people, and that's what we're dealing with here. An emotional kid that never grew up properly.”  
  
Ford sighed heavily and took a sip of his drink, giving a tired nod.   
  
"How old IS he, anyway? In comparison to human years." Stan asked suddenly.  
  
"I think...he's the equivalent of his early 20s. But, I could be wrong." Ford said, trying to piece together information in his head. "I know he was called 'young' by other demons."  
  
"Wow, he is a kid." Stan remarked.  
  
 **–**  
  
"Are we done yet?" Bill groaned, slumping against the wall of a store. "I don't know if I can take much more of these cheery, repetitive sorry excuses for music."  
  
"Oh, lighten up." Mabel looked in the shop window. "Ohh, mistletoe! Can't have Christmas without that!" She walked into the shop.  
  
"Missle toe?" Bill looked at Dipper.  
  
"It's a plant people hang in their houses. If two people pass under it at the same time, they have to kiss." Dipper explained.  
  
"...It's you two, your uncles, and me in the Shack. Why do you need that thing?" Bill asked.  
  
Dipper shrugged. "Switch 'kiss' for 'hug'?"  
  
"...Right." Bill made a face at the stereo blasting from the store playing Christmas music. "If he says 'it's cold outside' one more time, I'm going to smash that stereo."  
  
Dipper chuckled. "Yeah, sure. Can you fly again yet? It's pretty high."  
  
Bill grumbled, glaring as it repeated the offending line again. "Thanks for pointing out the fucking obvious, weirdo."  
  
"Was that to me or the song?" Dipper asked.  
  
"The song." Bill huffed into his scarf.  
  
Mabel came back out, carrying a bag. "Alright, now we can move on!"  
  
"Thank Satan, that song was driving me insane." Bill muttered, getting up and walking on ahead.  
  
Mabel looked at the stereo. "Didn't you tell him about the questionable part?"  
  
"Nope." Dipper shook his head before walking after the demon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All he had to do was write!


	4. Culture

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stan learns a bit about what's on the other side of the portal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gravity Falls (c) Alex Hirsch and Disney XD

When the carolers got home, Bill retreated to Ford's room and buried himself in blankets to shut out the world. Stan looked in at him and then looked at Dipper. "What did you DO to him?" He asked.  
  
Dipper unfastened his coat and pulled it off. "Forced him to sing repetitive songs, apparently. Hey, Bill, you're still wearing my coat!"  
  
There was a rustling and then the scarf, winter hat, and coat dropped out of the blanket and onto the floor next to the bed. Dipper rolled his eyes and walked in to collect the items. "No need to be such a baby about it."  
  
"Go away, I'm sick." Bill said from under the blanket.  
  
"Is he taking another nap?" Mabel poked her head in.  
  
"For a billion years. I'll just stay here and let the house rot around me." Bill insisted.  
  
"Has he always been this dramatic?" Stan asked.  
  
"He DID call Grenda a monster for making him wait for his cue to get the book." Dipper remarked.  
  
"Whaaaat? No way." Mabel laughed.  
  
"Way." Dipper nodded. "I don't know if she heard, though."  
  
"And he DID resort to drastic measures to get the rift. I mean, possessing Blendin? Obviously that would get the Time Cops' attention." Mabel nodded.  
  
"Blasting Time Baby felt good, he's an asshole." Bill commented from under the blanket.  
  
"Watch your language or I'll make you sing again." Dipper warned him.  
  
"Bite me, Pine Tree." Bill retorted.  
  
"Why don't you come out of there and say that to my face?" Dipper challenged.  
  
"If I get up, I will collapse. I feel really, really sick right now." Bill replied.  
  
"Do you need a bucket?" Mabel asked.  
  
"Demons don't vomit. We just feel really gross and everything hurts. Go enjoy your Christmas Cheer away from me and give me a break from the torture."  
  
Stan looked at the other two. "Alright, let's let him rest. I think he's learned his lesson."  
  
"Doubt it." The twins said, but they walked off anyway.  
  
Stan watched them go and walked over to the bed. "Can I get you anything?"  
  
"A way out of this dimension would be nice." Bill said, his voice muffled.  
  
"Well, Ford took apart the portal, so that's not an option." Stan shrugged. "Anything else?"  
  
"...Does Stanford have any Neplixen?" Bill asked.  
  
"What's that?" Stan asked.  
  
"It's a painkiller, very potent. It was mixed in dimension KL36.984 and was then distributed to all trans-dimensional merchants." Bill explained.  
  
"...Okay, I'll ask if he has any Neplexin." Stan said, heading for the door. He made sure it was locked before he went to the living room. "Ford, do you have any Neplexin?" He asked.  
  
"Neplexin? I might have some left." Ford got up , setting his crossroads to the side. "Dipper, could you figure out number 28 for me?"  
  
"Sure!" Dipper took the crossroads.  
  
Ford walked with Stan to his room and unlocked the door, stepping inside. Bill hadn't moved from the bed, but the bulge in the blanket was shivering. Ford sighed and went to his bag while Stan went to the bed to pull the blanket back a bit.  
  
"To administer this, I need access to his chest." Ford pulled out a bottle and syringe before looking over. "Since he's unconscious, would you remove his shirts?"  
  
Stan gently rolled Bill onto his back and started to pull off his sweater, watching for a reaction as he did. When he had it fully off and the demon was still asleep, he untied the bowtie and unbuttoned his shirt, exposing his chest. "Huh."  
  
"What?" Ford asked as he carefully filled the syringe, watching the dose.  
  
"I expected scars of some kind, but he's...perfect." Stan placed his hand on Bill's unmarred chest. "And surprisingly soft."  
  
"Demons have a higher healing rate than humans, and to be perfectly honest Bill Cipher had never been in hand-to-hand combat until he fought us." Ford walked over with the syringe and stabbed the needle into Bill's chest, feeling a bit of satisfaction at the pained gasp from the demon.  
  
"How fast does that thing work?" Stan asked.  
  
"It'll take about five minutes. And, before you ask, I'm not ever giving you any. I only used it in emergencies, this stuff is highly addictive." Ford pulled the empty syringe out and threw it into a biohazard bin near his desk. "You can button him up now, I'm done." He walked over and closed the bag, putting it in a locked cabinet.  
  
"Why are you locking it up?" Stan asked.  
  
"In case he tries looking for it, I DID just say it's highly addictive." Ford walked to the door. "He'll be fine."  
  
Stan nodded, buttoning up Bill's shirt and fixing his bowtie before he pulled the blanket up to Bill's chin. Then he draped the sweater on the head of the bed before following Ford out of the room and locking the door.

**\--**

Dipper gave Bill four hours to sleep, but when it was time for dinner he decided the demon was going to join them for it and borrowed the key to Ford's room. He found Bill still fast asleep and sighed, walking over to the bed. "Bill, it's time for dinner! And you're going to eat it like a person!"  
  
Bill didn't respond, still fast asleep. Dipper looked at him with a frown and then grinned, grabbing the blanket. He yanked it off and Bill came tumbling along and fell to the floor on his stomach.  
  
"Nnfh..." Bill groaned and lifted his head, the blanket slipping off as he did. "Zkdw kdsshqhg...?"  
  
"Are you awake now? Stop speaking gibberish." Dipper frowned.  
  
Bill looked up at him. "Rk. Khoor, Slqh Wuhh." He yawned and slowly pushed himself into a sitting position. "Mm, wkdw ihow juhdw."  
  
Dipper sighed. "Great Uncle Ford, did you break Bill? He's speaking gibberish!"  
  
"L irujrw krz ixqqb brx orrn zkhq brx'uh frqixvhg." Bill chuckled, pushing himself to his feet.  
  
"Seriously, stop that!" Dipper frowned at him. "Don't make me get a squirt bottle!"  
  
"A squirt bottle?" Bill raised his visible eyebrow.  
  
"Well, it works on cats. C'mon, let's go eat." Dipper walked out.  
  
"Do I look like a cat?" Bill grabbed his sweater and pulled it on as he followed him out.  
  
An extra chair was pulled up to the table for Bill and Stan muttered something about needing to get a new table if one more person moved in. Bill took his seat and stared at the utensils, picking up the fork and poking himself in the hand.  
  
"You eat with that." Dipper snatched it away. "Don't they have forks in other dimensions?"  
  
"We just use our hands or powers." Bill shrugged. "Lots of finger-food."  
  
"Some dimensions have the food blended together in a shake." Ford explained.  
  
"Like in WALL-E?!" Mabel asked.  
  
Ford looked confused, so Dipper explained. "It's a movie about robots and humans that live in space. The humans at one point in the movie have their food blended into shakes."  
  
"Ah. Then, yes." Ford nodded. "It tastes...interesting. You have to be careful what foods you mix together."  
  
"That's pretty cool." Dipper smiled, then looked at Bill. "Okay, you can watch how we use it, then. I'm only giving it back if you don't stab yourself with it."  
  
Bill scoffed. "I wasn't going to hurt myself, I'm not a masochist."  
  
"But, you said--"  
  
"The funniest part was your reactions!" Bill grinned. "Besides, obviously YOUR pain is hilarious!"  
  
Dipper sighed and handed him the fork, muttering to himself.  
  
**–**  
  
"You're a messy eater." Mabel said as she pulled Bill's sweater off him and threw it in the wash.  
  
Bill shrugged and untied his bowtie, handing it to her. She put it in a basket of handwashables and held out her hand. "What?"  
  
"You got gravy on your other shirt is 'what'." She handed him a random clean shirt. "Put this on, give me that one."  
  
"Isn't this Pine Tree's?" Bill considered the new shirt.  
  
"Give me your shirt before I take it off you!" Mabel demanded.  
  
Bill held his hands up in surrender and set the clean shirt to the side as he unbuttoned the dirty one.  
  
Mabel watched him, then gasped and turned around. What was she doing, she can't be watching a guy undress! When Bill tapped her shoulder she reached back and took the shirt, putting it in the washer and turning it on. "Shirt on?"  
  
"Yes, ma'am." Bill replied.  
  
Mabel turned to him to see him wearing the red t-shirt. "Good. Your shirts will be clean in a couple hours." She walked off with the dirty bowtie, wondering how he managed to dirty his clothes but not his skin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bill's speaking in code, so here's translations:
> 
> 1) "What happened...?"  
> 2) "Oh. Hello, Pine Tree."  
> 3) "Mm, that felt great."  
> 4) "I forgot how funny you look when you're confused."
> 
> And for a brief moment we had Bill wearing Dipper's shirt. *eyebrow wriggle*


	5. Heart of Gold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bill has a weakness no one expected and Stan and Bill find a connection.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gravity Falls (c) Alex Hirsch and Disney XD

"Why do you need so many lights?" Bill asked as he climbed up the ladder Stan was holding in place.  
  
"Because it catches the eye." Stan replied. "Why do you wear so much yellow?"  
  
"Because I AM yellow." Bill struggled to balance the box of hooks and the lights. "This would be easier if I could float..."  
  
"Why can't you?" Stan asked.  
  
"Because it's a Holy Day and I am a Demon." Bill said matter-of-factly.  
  
"Why does Holy stuff weaken you?" Stan asked.  
  
"You know, you're nicer than your nephew. Holy Energy harms Demons, just like Dark Energy hurts Angels." Bill explained. "It's like..." He struggled for a way to explain it. "Like...fire and...snow. it's a natural reaction to encountering it, to grow weaker."  
  
Stan looked thoughtful. "Hm...still don't quite get it."  
  
"We're natural enemies, so our energy harms each other. Occasionally you find a weird exception to the rule, but generally..." He wobbled a bit and grabbed the roof. "Generally we don't get along. Christmas makes Demons sick and Angels strong and Halloween makes Angels sick and Demons strong." Bill huffed and looked at him. "How about you do this and I'll hold the ladder?"  
  
Stan laughed. "Nah, I'll just get Ford to help. I just wanted to give you a break while the kids and Ford conspired against you."  
  
"You're not conspiring?" Bill asked.  
  
"Nah, I got my shots in when we beat you months ago. It'd just be petty to kick you while you're down." Stan shrugged. "Climb down."  
  
Bill started to climb down and caught his foot, making him slip and fall. "Wha!"  
  
Stan let go of the ladder and caught Bill before he hit the ground. "Careful, kid!"  
  
Bill looked at him. "...I'm over a trillion years old."  
  
"Ford said you're in the 20s by equivalent." Stan shrugged. "And you look like a kid."  
  
Bill looked away, sighing. "Fine, call me a kid."  
  
Stan smiled and set him down before going to pick up the ladder. "Tell Ford to come out, would ya?"  
  
Bill nodded, heading inside. Stan was being weirdly nice, but he'd always been nicer than his brother. "Hey, Stanford! Your brother wants your help!" He said as he walked inside.  
  
"Ah-hah!" Mabel suddenly grabbed Bill's arm and pulled him onto a cushion. "Now that you're inside, we can do THIS!" She put a headband with fake antlers on his head.  
  
Bill stared blankly at the wall in front of him and shifted his gaze to the headband. "...What."  
  
"See? Isn't it cute, Grunkle Ford?" Mabel asked. "Let's get an actual costume for him!"  
  
Ford came into the room, looking at him thoughtfully. "Well...I don't see the harm in it, I suppose."  
  
"Can you take a break from tormenting me long enough to help Stan with the lights?" Bill asked, sighing as Dipper wrapped a garland around his head.  
  
Ford chuckled and walked outside, closing the door behind him.  
  
Mabel watched him go. "You ask me, Grunkle Ford is enjoying this more than we are."   
  
"What do you mean?" Dipper asked as he hung ornaments on Bill's pointed ears.  
  
"He just seems a little too excited about having Bill at his mercy and command, is all." Mabel commented, giggling as Bill squirmed when Dipper's fingers touched his ears.  
  
"He's over Bill, though." Dipper dug in the box he was holding.  
  
"Is he? He's still got the creepy Bill stuff in the basement." Mabel looked at Bill. "Has he done anything to you?"  
  
"He gave me a painkiller when you two forced me to sing." Bill said flatly.  
  
Dipper laughed and took off the ornaments from his ears, making him squirm again.  
  
"Okay, if you could NOT do that, that would be awesome." Bill said, cringing away.  
  
"Oh my gooosh, your ears are twitching!" Mabel giggled, scratching behind the ear closest to her.  
  
"I know, just like a reindeer!" Dipper did the same with the other one.  
  
Bill hid his face in his hands, squirming and murmuring before he finally pushed them away and ran for Ford's room.  
  
"Was he...blushing?" Dipper asked, watching him go.  
  
"He can do that?" Mabel asked.  
  
 **–**  
  
"Is there a reason Bill has barricaded himself inside my room?" Ford asked. Stan was at the door of said room, trying to coax the demon out.  
  
"We messed with his ears. They got all twitchy!" Mabel grinned.  
  
"You messed with..." Ford sighed. "Well, no wonder he's hiding." He chuckled a bit.  
  
Dipper and Mabel exchanged confused glances. "What do you mean? Why is it so bad?"  
  
Stan had managed to convince Bill to open the door for him and was now sitting on the edge of the bed with him. "You feeling alright? They make you sing again?"  
  
"Hah, no, I can put up with a little bit of that. Just not hours of it." Bill held his top-hat in his hands, the antlers discarded on the floor.  
  
"So, what happened?" Stan asked.  
  
"It's...awkward. They didn't know, I overreacted." He sighed. "I forgot how hard it was having a physical form. I was in my ethereal form for so long...so many...quirks, so many reactions and body spasms and involuntary movements..."  
  
Stan patiently waited for him to continue. Bill was acting like a flustered teenager and it was a tiny bit amusing seeing such a human thing on the demon.  
  
"My ears...they're very, uh, sensitive. All Demons' ears are. Like Angels' wings. We get, ah, aroused if people touch the tips or the backs and they noticed my ears were twitching 'like a reindeer's' and..." Bill put his hat back on, letting it float slightly above his head once more.  
  
"I see." Stan nodded. "That must've been awkward. Are you okay, though?"  
  
Bill nodded. "...You care too much. You already have your family and the townspeople in your heart of gold, how could you have room for me?" He looked at him.  
  
"Kid, my heart is ever-expanding." Stan draped an arm over Bill's shoulder, careful not to touch his ears. "I've always got room for a struggling criminal like myself." He grinned. "You're weak, and can't even beat a pig right now. It'd be heartless of me to turn you out, no matter what you did in the past. I've run with drug-dealers and murderers and while you hurt a lot of people, no one actually died. That puts you a step above Rico."  
  
"Your jail buddy." Bill remarked. "I was in your head before, not sure if Pine Tree told you."  
  
"Why do you call him that? It's not his name." Stan asked.  
  
"Neither is 'Dipper'. It's his symbol on the wheel." Bill explained. "I never learned his real name and by now I just default to 'Pine Tree'."  
  
Stan shrugged. "Fair enough. Though he'd prefer if you called him 'Dipper'. Can you try that?"  
  
Bill glanced at him. "...'Dip...per'."  
  
Stan smiled and stood up, patting his shoulder. "You'll get the hang of it."  
  
Bill nodded quietly, standing up. "What if...I did kill, by accident? Like, if I blew up a planet without intending to?"  
  
Stan considered his question for a bit. "Well...you did your time, right? And it WAS an accident. What happened, a party go wrong?"  
  
Bill nodded, glancing away. "WAY wrong..."  
  
Stan nodded. "Well...just don't hurt anyone again and you're fine. Since you're stuck here, you can work in the Shack, do something semi-honest.”  
  
"Heh, 'semi-honest'." Bill smirked.  
  
"Well, I'm a con-man, guilty as charged." Stan opened the door and stepped out.  
  
Bill waited a bit before following. "Sure, sounds fun. Might not get me in jail this time, either."  
  
Stan grinned, closing the door behind them. "Ah, you'll have the poor saps eating out of your hands!"  
  
"I'm generally very successful at what I do." Bill grinned widely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Twitchy, sensitive ears, so cute.
> 
> (A.N: Ten days to Christmas and I've been neglecting this story! Yeesh!)


	6. Learn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are learned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gravity Falls (c) Alex Hirsch and Disney XD

"Oh my gawd, so awkward!" Mabel paced in front of her bed frantically.  
  
"That was more about demon anatomy than I ever wanted to know." Dipper agreed. He was sitting on the edge of his bed, holding his head in his hands.  
  
"That was more about BILL than I ever wanted to know!" Mabel looked at him. "How could Grunkle Ford say that with a straight face?"  
  
"He did laugh before and after telling us." Dipper reflected.  
  
"Who gets turned on by their EARS?!" Mabel squeaked.  
  
"Apparently, Demons do." Dipper replied lamely  
  
"Do you think we should apologize?" Mabel asked.  
  
Dipper pursed his lips. "I dunno, it might make things MORE awkward..."  
  
"I feel so weird, like I should wash my hands!" Mabel flailed.  
  
"I feel like I need a whole shower." Dipper cringed.  
  
"I'm going to do that. And then, I'm going to apologize for being horribly awkward." Mabel headed for the door.  
  
Dipper nodded. "Yeah, you do that."  
  
 **–**  
  
"Hey, I got a question." Stan asked as he and Bill worked on dessert together. "You told Dipper that Angels don't have wings, but you told me that Angels get aroused when you touch their wings."  
  
Bill grinned, picking up a cookie cutter shaped like a snowman. "Ah, you caught that, did you? Angels do have wings, yeah, but humans can't see them. And the size of their wings is entirely dependent on their powers." He started cutting into the dough laid out. "And they really don't need them to fly. The choir angels have very little powers, so they have tiny little wings nothing could fly with."  
  
"Wow, so no big, glorious wings?" Stan asked as he mixed up different colored frostings.  
  
"Not the chorus line!" Bill laughed.   
  
"Are there any that don't have wings?" Stan asked.  
  
Bill sighed. "The Fallen. They are Angels that break the laws of Heaven and are stripped of their powers before being cast down to Earth and left to fend for themselves. Most of the time, the negative energy turns them into Demons."  
  
"Harsh." Stan cringed.  
  
"Yeah, Heaven is really strict." Bill nodded.  
  
"Bill!" Mabel came into the kitchen. "I came to apologize for unintentionally bad-touching you!"  
  
Bill looked over at her. "Uh...great."  
  
"Sorry for bad-touching you! Okay, I apologized!" She ran out again.  
  
"...Did Stanford put her up to that?" Bill asked. Stan shrugged in response.  
  
 **–  
**  
"Where's Stanford at?" Bill asked, walking into the living room.  
  
"He said he was gonna buy you a few costumes. We made plans." Dipper said, clicking the tip of his pen in and out as he considered a crossroads puzzle. "Mabel, four-letter word for an intelligent person."  
  
"N-e-r-d." Mabel grinned at him, then looked at Bill. "Why did you want him?"  
  
Bill looked hesitant to answer. "My head really hurts...wanted to get some more Neplexin."  
  
"There's aspirin in the bathroom." Dipper said as he wrote down Mabel's suggestion. "That works, thanks Mabel."  
  
"No prob, brobro." Mabel grinned.  
  
Bill walked up to the bathroom and picked up the bottle, looking it over. "...How do you inject this?" He shook it a bit, listening to it rattle, then tried to open it. To his irritance, it refused to open and he tried a few more times before throwing it on the floor. "Fine, stay closed! You useless canister!"  
  
Mabel looked up at where they could hear Bill yelling gibberish and looked at Dipper. "Childproof cap?"  
  
"I bet it is." Dipper smirked a bit.  
  
"Someone should help him." Mabel looked back at her show.  
  
"Mm, I'll wait for him to ask for help." Dipper got more comfortable on the couch.  
  
"Are you two picking on Bill again?" Stan asked.  
  
Bill came now, ignoring the younger Pines twins, and held out the bottle to Stan. "I can't get it open."  
  
Stan chuckled a bit and showed him how to open it, then took out two pills. "Need something to get those down?"  
  
Bill held up the pills to his mouth and stuck out his tongue, wrapping it around the pills and pulling them inside before swallowing. Then he made a face and ran to the kitchen for a glass, which he filled with water and downed in one gulp. "Ugh, those were vile! Pine Tree, are you trying to poison me?!"  
  
"It's medicine, medicine never tastes good." Dipper said, writing on his crossroads puzzle.  
  
"This is why everyone else just injects their medicine!" Bill gagged and made a face.  
  
Stan couldn't help but be amused at the demon's behavior and chuckled to himself as he went up to put the bottle away.  
  
Bill came into the living room and plopped down next to Dipper, tugging at a loose string on his sweater. Mabel gasped when she noticed and quickly removed the string with a pair of scissors.  
  
"So...What are you doing today, Pine Tree?" Bill asked.  
  
"If you keep calling me that, I'm going to ignore you." Dipper said, staring at his puzzle.  
  
Bill cringed, remembering what Stan had said about using Dipper's preferred nickname. Even if he begged for it before, being thrown back into the snowy woods wasn't actually that appealing. "Okay...Di...Dipp...er."  
  
Dipper looked at him with a surprised expression. "Did you just...?"  
  
Bill glanced away. "...I...can learn."  
  
Dipper stared at him in disbelief. "Yes...apparently you can."  
  
Mabel was also staring at Bill, before she nodded and grabbed a nearby binder, putting a checkmark in a box next to "Stop calling Dipper 'Pine Tree'".

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What is Ford up to...?


	7. Oh, Deer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ford returns from shopping and Bill is forced to dress up!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gravity Falls (c) Alex Hirsch and Disney XD

Ford came home from his trip to town and discreetly hid the bags in his room. Stan considered asking about why he was acting so suspicious, but figured they'd find out soon enough. Besides, it could be nothing. Could be just presents, right?  
  
Ford stepped into the living room and found the kids and Bill laughing at some cheesy movie with a guy singing about being "Mr. Green Christmas" dancing on-screen with a bunch of tiny versions of him. He cleared his throat, stopping in the doorway. "Bill, I want you to come try something on."  
  
"Uh oh." Mabel giggled.  
  
Bill sighed, pushing himself off the couch. "Let's...get this over with."  
  
"We'll pause the movie." Dipper said, picking up the remote and doing so.  
  
Bill sighed again and followed Ford to his room. When they arrived, he was handed a bag and then Ford stepped out, giving him privacy to change. After a bit of rustling around, he heard "Uhhh, Sixer? Are you sure about this one? It's kind of..."  
  
"It'll look good on you. Trust me, considering the options, this is better for someone fashion-inclined like yourself." Ford told him.  
  
"Geez...this is going to be so weird. Uhm...how does this..."  
  
"Do you need help?" Ford asked.  
  
"No, I don't! I can figure this out without your help, I still have my pride!" Bill responded firmly, plastic and cloth rustling around. "Ugh, extra arms would SO come in handy right now..."  
  
"Are you sure you don't want help?" Ford asked.  
  
"...Fine. Help with the fastening back here."  
  
Ford opened the door and stepped inside, walking over to zip up the back. Bill then pulled on the hooded overshirt and gave a heavy sigh. "Oh, come on. You look great." He assured him.  
  
"Yeah, well, I still have to put on the rest." Bill sighed.   
  
Ford lowered Bill's hood and picked up the silken bell collar, fastening it around his neck before putting the hood back up. "I'll leave you to put on the fishnet and boots, unless you'd like help."   
  
Bill shot him a look. "No, I can do that myself. Out."  
  
Ford nodded and walked out, closing the door behind him. He noticed Dipper waiting in the hall and smiled. "He's almost done."  
  
"It's taking longer than we thought it would." Dipper commented.  
  
The door opened and Bill stepped out, looking completely embarrassed and awkward in his costume. "There. How long do I have to wear this?"  
  
"Great Uncle Ford, what is this?" Dipper gestured to the outfit.  
  
It was a style he had seen in the adult section, a brown and yellow dress and shirt combo with plastic antlers and cloth ears on the brown hood and fishnet stockings with brown hoof-like boots.  
  
"They were out of the kid styles. Besides, he looks great!" Ford said, gesturing to Bill as the demon awkwardly tugged at the skirt that rested just under his rump. The whole outfit clung to his body and emphasized any curves and honestly Dipper was surprised it fit.  
  
He had to admit, Great Uncle Ford was right about it looking good. He also had to admit that Mabel had a point - Ford WAS too eager to have Bill Cipher at his mercy and command.  
  
"It's not what we agreed on, though." Dipper said.  
  
Ford shrugged. "Well, Dipper, I couldn't exactly go home empty-handed, could I?"  
  
Dipper sighed heavily.  
  
Mabel poked her head out and raised an eyebrow. "Uhhh, that's cute, but I thought the intent was to make people laugh, not turn heads?" She asked, walking over to poke at the outfit. "I mean, it looks good, but it's kind of...I dunno...not funny?"  
  
"It's what they had. We'll go tomorrow and find one like we agreed on, alright?" Ford said, sighing.  
  
"Can I change now?" Bill asked.  
  
"Hold on, I'm gonna take a picture!" Mabel ran out of the room.  
  
Bill sighed, his expression very clearly saying "kill me and spare me this torture". "Oookay, Mabel."  
  
Dipper looked at Bill. "You alright?"  
  
"I feel violated in some way by being forced to wear this." Bill tugged at the hooded shirt. "I never did this to you!"  
  
"You used me as a back-scratcher." Ford crossed his arms over his chest.  
  
"Yes, but I never required you to dress in a weird outfit for it, did I?" Bill huffed.  
  
Mabel came in with the camera. "Okay, Bill! Smile!"  
  
"Do I have to?" Bill sighed.  
  
"Yes!" Mabel nodded vehemently.  
  
Bill sighed heavily. "Come on, Shooting Star..."  
  
Dipper walked over and wrapped his arms around Bill's waist. "Smile, or we'll make you."  
  
"Pi--Dipper, let go." Bill squirmed a bit.  
  
"Dipper, let go of Bill." Stan walked over to him. "Bill, you alright?"  
  
Bill escaped Dipper's grasp and ran to Stan. "Stanford made me wear this!"  
  
Stan raised an eyebrow at Ford, who shifted uncomfortably and retreated into his room. Stan sighed and looked at Bill. "Well, at least he's not forcing you to sing."  
  
"Oh, come on! He was asking for it!" Dipper insisted.  
  
Mabel gasped. "Grunkle Stan, pose with Bill for the picture!"  
  
Stan looked at Bill. "What do you think?"  
  
"Do I have to smile?" Bill asked.  
  
"Only if you don't do a sexy dance pose!" Mabel declared.  
  
Dipper made a face. "Really, Mabel?"  
  
"And take off your blazer, Grunkle Stan!" She powered up the camera, then looked at them. "...In front of the tree."  
  
Stan looked at Bill. "Well, what do you say?"  
  
Bill glanced at Ford's room. "Better you than your brother."  
  
"Do I want to know?" Stan asked, shrugging. "Well, Mabel's not letting you change until we do this, so let's go." He took off his blazer and went to the lounge, the other three following.  
  
 **–**  
  
"Okay, so we're gonna have him dipping you, Bill, and Grunkle Stan needs a flower of some kind in his mouth. Dipper, can you get me one of my fake roses?" Mabel directed.  
  
"Mabel, honey, can you just take the picture?" Stan asked as he posed with Bill as directed.  
  
Mabel sighed. "Oh, alright..." She raised her camera and took a picture, then changed angles and had them do one more dance pose before she finally lowered her camera. "Okay, I'm done. Go change, Bill."  
  
Bill headed out, Stan following. A bit later, Ford was pushed into the room before Stan walked back to Ford's room again.   
  
"Is there some reason Stanley kicked me out of my own room?" Ford asked, crossing his arms over his chest.  
  
"Bill implied that you weren't safe to him." Mabel grinned. "Wanna see the pictures?"  
  
Ford walked over to look through her digital camera. "These are very good."  
  
"If I didn't know that was Bill in drag, I'd find her attractive." Dipper remarked. "But I do know it's Bill in drag, so I'm honestly just disturbed at the thought of finding him attractive."  
  
Mabel giggled. "He IS a looker."  
  
Bill and Stan came back into the room, Bill once again wearing his other outfit. "Can we get back to the Pagan movie?" Bill asked.  
  
Dipper and Mabel nodded, walking with him to the living room. Stan and Ford hung back.  
  
"I did not go out with the intent to get that outfit. Honestly, none of the others I saw looked that good on him." Ford said.  
  
"Oh, no need to justify your fanboy fantasies to me, Sixer." Stan remarked. "It's the kids you have to convince you're not a pervert."  
  
Ford sighed, holding his head in his hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Ford, his reputation is tarnished! XD (Ah, he'll get over it.)
> 
> A.N.: See the outfit here! http://zonerobotnik.tumblr.com/post/134020748597/its-the-aftermath-of-ford-telling-mabel-that-it ))


	8. Mistletoe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bill is still feeling unnerved by Ford's forwardness with the costume, and then Dipper goes and does something!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gravity Falls (c) Alex Hirsch and Disney XD

"Okay, just a bit more to the right...we want this thing perfectly centered!" Mabel said as Ford helped her hang up the mistletoe.  
  
"I don't really see the point of this, there won't be any kissing." Ford said, carefully hanging it up and then stepping back.  
  
"It's for hugging!" Mabel smiled.  
  
"Well, if you insist." Ford looked at her. "Is it done?"  
  
Mabel held up her fingers in a rectangle shape and nodded. "Looks great!"  
  
"Good, I have something to get back to. Where are Dipper and Cipher, by the way?" Ford asked.  
  
"Grunkle Stan sent them to get firewood from the shed." Mabel said, walking over to the living room.  
  
"Hm, I don't think they should be alone..." He headed outside.  
  
–  
  
"So, you never showed Great Uncle Ford this form?" Dipper asked.  
  
"'course not, that'd be showing him all my cards too soon!" Bill balanced wood in his arms. "Besides, after that dress a couple days ago, he might've had...weird intentions."  
  
"Oh, like you're not a complete pervert?" Dipper added another piece of wood to Bill's pile.  
  
"At least I'm not having wet dreams about male werewolves and girls much too old for me!" Bill retorted.  
  
"You influenced that dream! And if they knew about our Mindscape meetings..."  
  
Bill rolled his eyes. "Don't read into it, you were a source of entertainment and nothing more."  
  
Dipper glared at him and gathered up wood in his arms, storming out. Bill followed behind, kicking the door shut behind them.  
  
"Did you honestly think you were _special_ to me?" Bill asked as they walked through the falling snow. "You're a blink of existence! It'd be _idiotic_ to actually grow interest in a mere human!"  
  
"Shut up! If it wasn't for this 'mere blink of existence', you'd be freezing in the woods all winter!" Dipper snapped.  
  
The shop door jingled as they walked in, still bickering back and forth. Mabel looked up as they passed by the living room and got up to follow them.  
  
"Honestly, if I had ANY choice in the matter, I would've already left!" Bill snapped.  
  
"If you hadn't tried to take over the world, you wouldn't have lost your powers!" Dipper set down his wood, Bill doing the same.  
  
"Oh, so you're saying that I should have just stayed in that decaying dimension, then?" Bill demanded.  
  
Dipper walked to the doorway, Bill right behind him. "You didn't have to try to take over!"  
  
"I'm an all-powerful Demon! It's what we do!" Bill snapped.  
  
"Bill! Dipper!" Mabel snapped. "You are standing under the Mistletoe of Friendship! Now kiss and make up!"  
  
"Uh, don't you mean 'hug'?" Bill asked.  
  
"You two are beyond just hugging. I don't care if it's on the forehead, just kiss!" Mabel declared.  
  
Dipper looked at Bill before grabbing his shoulders. "How's this for 'all-powerful'?" He muttered, pulling Bill down to his level and pressing his lips against his.  
  
Mabel blinked in surprise. "Uh...okay, you can do it the traditional way. But, Dipper? You gotta stop kissing guys or people will think you like guys, too."  
  
Dipper pulled away and let go of Bill, walking out of the room.  
  
"I mean, I support you 100% if you DO like guys, but when you say you don't and then kiss guys, it just--it's confusing." Mabel walked after him.  
  
Bill walked them go, moving a hand up to brush his fingers against his lips. "...He bit me."  
  
–  
  
"Is everything alright?" Ford asked. "I saw you storming off..."  
  
"Everything is fine!" Dipper said firmly. "Just...Bill being himself, that's all!"  
  
Ford looked concerned. "What did he do?"  
  
Dipper glanced away. "Let's just say that our history hasn't been the most pleasant, but he made light of when it wasn't entirely unpleasant and it upset me."  
  
Ford raised an eyebrow. "Your...history? I was under the impression it was entirely unpleasant."  
  
"We had...moments. After we made the deal, he kept visiting my dreams..." Dipper wrung his hands. "Sometimes he hurt me, other times...he took on this humanoid form during those visits, and I got...pulled in by his charms. Not enough to help him, of course. And then, the way he acted like I wasn't worth anything..." He dropped his hands to his sides. "I was stupid."  
  
Ford placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "We were both seduced and tricked by him, Dipper. And now we can get back at him for everything he's done."  
  
Dipper nodded. "Revenge is underrated."  
  
Ford smiled. "So, let's prepare the next torture."  
  
Dipper nodded with a grin, watching Ford walk off to his room.  
  
"You know, Pine Tree, you can be really vindictive if you want to be." Bill walked over to him. "I mean, biting me when my healing powers are low? It might scar."  
  
"And now we're back to the nicknames." Dipper frowned.  
  
"I admit, you were a great plaything. But don't ever delude yourself, kid." Bill stopped next to him. "Demons are incapable of falling in love. But I showed you my humanoid form, and that's more than anyone else got."  
  
"You told your friends they could eat me!" Dipper scowled.  
  
"You honestly believe that after everything else you faced that I wasn't absolutely sure they would fail?" Bill laughed. "They're idiots!"  
  
"You shouldn't say that about your friends!" Dipper snapped.  
  
"Demons don't have friends, Dip. They have allies. The only reason they didn't stab me in the back is because I'd stab 'em right back." Bill turned away. "After all...friends don't leave you powerless and weak while they all run away."  
  
Dipper's brow furrowed. "Bill..."  
  
"I told you not to pity me." Bill said sharply. "Demons are all self-centered, looking out for number-one. I expected them to take off without me."  
  
Dipper pursed his lips and looked out the window at the falling snow. "Being a Demon...sounds like a lonely existence."  
  
"What do you expect for the damned?" Bill shrugged.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Somehow, I don't think Bill minded it too much.
> 
> ((A.N.: Since I won't be updating for the next few days, I'm going to update all my stories before Christmas Eve so you all have something nice to read. :) ))


	9. Demi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stan decides a shopping trip is in order and leave Ford behind to watch the house while he takes the kids.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gravity Falls (c) Alex Hirsch and Disney XD

"Since we can't trust Ford to not get Bill some sexy lingerie to wear, _I'm_ gonna take you kids to the mall to find you a new reindeer costume!" Stan declared.  
  
"Lingerie? Don't be ridiculous." Ford muttered from the table.  
  
"Let's get in the car, kids!" Stan grinned, watching as Mabel helped Bill bundle up again. "Wouldn't hurt to buy you some winter gloves and boots, while we're at it. Those stage clothes are fine during summer, but not in this freezing cold!"  
  
Bill shrugged. "Keeps me warm enough."  
  
"Okay, all done!" Mabel pulled the winter cap on Bill's head and nodded. "Ready to go, DipDop?"  
  
"Been ready." Dipper looked over their shopping list. "Just double-checking, we need flour, a bunk bed, new bedding, a small dresser, potatoes, a chance to slip away on our own to buy gifts, and a teen-sized reindeer costume. Is that everything?"  
  
"Yep!" Mabel grinned.  
  
"I keep telling you that buying a new bed is a waste of money." Ford commented.  
  
"Well, after finding you practically on top of Bill this morning when I came to wake you up, I'm inclined to think otherwise." Stan said, shaking his head.  
  
"I was _asleep_!" Ford argued.  
  
"And I have no idea if you draped yourself over him before or after going to sleep, so it's honestly safer for everyone if he has his own bed." Stan opened the door. "We'll be back, don't blow up the house."  
  
"How long do you think he'll _be here_?!" Ford asked as they walked out.  
  
"As long as he needs to be, Ford. I don't throw people out into the cold when they have nowhere to go." Stan said coolly, shutting the door on anything else he had to say.  
  
"Ooo...I see _that_ bridge is still burning." Bill cringed.  
  
"It's still a sore subject, yeah." Stan walked to the car. "C'mon, let's get into the warm car."  
  
They all climbed in, Mabel taking the front while Bill and Dipper rode in back. Mabel talked excitedly about the shopping trip while Stan drove and Bill and Dipper exchanged awkward glances.  
  
 **–**  
  
"Yeesh, the corporate capitalism is out in full force today." Bill remarked as they walked through the mall. "I just saw two of the old guy in red five feet from each other."  
  
"That's Santa Claus. He's also called 'St. Nick', or 'Father Christmas'." Dipper reminded him. "You've heard the songs."  
  
"Well, I don't know about the real guy, but those ones weren't saints. They were leering at a teenager's ass." Bill remarked.  
  
"Those are just guys in costume. And stop swearing." Dipper frowned at him.  
  
"Ohh, a crepe stand!" Mabel looked at Stan. "Grunkle Stan, can we?"  
  
Stan shrugged. "Sure, why not? Bill, you want any?"  
  
Bill shrugged and sat down by the mall fountain to wait for them as they went to get crepes.  
  
"Well, isn't _this_ interesting." Bill felt a shiver going down his spine and glanced up at a winged man in front of him. "How rare to see one of your kind out here. Couldn't get to your hole before it closed?"  
  
"...I was...too weak to leave." Bill said quietly. Judging by the wing-span, this one was strong but not an Archangel.  
  
"Too weak? Why?" The Angel asked.  
  
"...I failed." Bill looked away  
  
"Failed...? Oh!" He suddenly grabbed Bill's chin and tilted it up. "Ah, I see! No wonder you're able to walk around!"  
  
 **–  
  
** Dipper looked over and frowned, seeing a man talking to Bill. Was it a trick of the light, or was he seeing an outline of...wings? He walked closer, listening in.   
  
"After using that much energy, it's a wonder your powers didn't short out sooner." The man tsk'd, looking at Bill's face. "Your complexion is so unhealthy, little Demi. You shouldn't be on your own."  
  
"I'm not." Bill said, pulling his face free and turning to look towards Dipper with a "help me" expression. Whoever this guy was, Bill was visibly afraid of them.  
  
Dipper walked over to them. "Excuse me, has he done something?"  
  
"Oh, no. He's been rather well-behaved." The man smiled. "You are his keeper, then? I'd suggest a leash, but I don't think you need one."  
  
"Who do you think you are?" Dipper glared at him.  
  
" _Pine...ss._ " Bill grabbed Dipper's wrist. "Don't. Just let him walk off."  
  
"But he--"  
  
"I advise listening to the demon, child." The man turned to go. "Perhaps I'll see you at the tree-lighting ceremony tomorrow."  
  
"Or not." Bill mumbled.  
  
The man smiled and walked off into the mall crowd. Dipper frowned a bit. "How could he keep people from knocking into those wings?"  
  
"I'm surprised you can see them." Bill pulled his scarf over his chin again. "Most can't."  
  
"Who--What was that guy?" Dipper asked.  
  
"An Angel." Bill said, his voice a bit muffled. "Judging by the wings, a 2nd Class one."  
  
"Wait, you said Angels don't have wings." Dipper frowned.  
  
"Not ones humans can see. And the choir angels don't have those huge ones." Bill looked over as Mabel and Stan rejoined them.  
  
"Who was that guy just now?" Stan asked, handing Bill a tray with a couple of crepes and cocoas on it. "C'mon, let's find a table."  
  
They found a table and Bill took off his gloves to eat, the others doing the same with their winter gloves. "That was an Angel." Bill explained. "They usually lurk around human towns this time of year, pretending to be normal humans."  
  
"I heard him call you 'demi'." Dipper commented. Bill stiffened up and busied himself with eating."Bill?"  
  
"You don't need to know." Bill finally said, glancing away. "Just don't ever call me that."  
  
"Maybe it's an insult." Mabel whispered. "Like, I dunno, 'Mudblood'."  
  
"Hm, but that's a derogatory slur. Maybe it's more like 'wimp' or something like that." Dipper whispered back.  
  
 **–**  
  
The rest of the trip was relatively peaceful. After the caroling a week ago, no one was surprised to see Mabel or Dipper tugging Bill Cipher by the hand while Stan followed close behind.   
  
Dipper couldn't get what the Angel called Bill out of his head, so when they got home he went straight to Ford's room and shut the door. "Great Uncle Ford, what does 'Demi' mean to a Demon?"  
  
"Demi?" Ford looked up from a blueprint and turned to him. "Well, it's not a Demonic word. It's a Human word, originated by the French. It means 'half' or 'lesser', usually seen in fiction with 'human', 'demi-human'." He looked thoughtful. "Why do you ask?"  
  
"Well, we ran into an Angel today, and he called Bill 'Demi'." Dipper frowned. "If you're right, then Mabel had it right by comparing it to 'Mudblood'..."  
  
Ford looked at his work. "Hm...it is possible he's half-human...but only he could tell us for sure." He picked up his pencil, twirling it in his fingers. "If that's so, then he could be capable of human emotion after all..."  
  
Dipper looked towards the door. "Maybe..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mean Angel was mean. Poor Bill.


	10. Choir

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Pines family go to view the tree-lighting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gravity Falls (c) Alex Hirsch and Disney XD

"So...what is this thing?" Bill asked, poking at something Ford was building on the front lawn. "Also, are these parts from the portal?"

"Yes, and you'll find out what I'm building when it's done." Ford said, glancing up at him from his work. "Why are you alone?"

"I wasn't aware standing right in front of you was 'alone'." Bill played with a puffball on one of his winter gloves. "Saw you out here, got curious."

"Well, go back inside." Ford said, focusing on his work again.

"When did you remove the unicorn hair?" Bill asked.

"Hm?" Ford didn't look up.

"Well, you must've removed it for me to get in." Bill remarked.

"Maybe, or maybe your Demonic powers are so weak, it reads you as Human." Ford remarked.

"Why would it do that?" Bill asked.

"Well, from what I hear that's what you are." Ford glanced at him, smirking.

Bill looked both shocked and offended and then he looked to the side. "I'm not Human...I'm a Demon!" He ran inside, going up to where Stan and Dipper were putting together the bunk bed with Soos's help.

Stan noticed him come in and turned to greet him when he saw Bill dart for the closet and curl up. "Oh boy. Ford do something again?"

"He was rude. Said my powers were so weak I was a Human." Bill grumbled.

"With those ears?" Soos remarked.

"He's just trying to rile you up." Stan walked over and knelt next to the Demon. "Just more of the 'getting back at you' bit. Personally I'm against kicking you while you're down, but Ford is horribly petty."

Dipper looked over. "Well, he does deserve a little bit of kicking. I mean, he did freak out the town."

Stan and Bill exchanged slightly amused expressions at Dipper's vindictive attitude. Sighing, Stan rubbed Bill's shoulder and got up, walking over to get back to work on the bunk bed.

"Well, maybe going to the tree-lighting will cheer you up!" Soos smiled. "The Elementary School Choir is singing during it, lots of pretty music!"

Bill looked out at him. "...Did the Pines not tell you WHY I'm so weak?"

"Ohh, sounds fun!" Mabel poked her head out of a toolbox she was digging in. "Let's go, Grunkle Stan!"

Stan shrugged. "Eh, it's just a tree-lighting. If Bill gets bad enough, I'll take him home and let you kids enjoy it with Soos and Ford."

Bill's ears drooped as he looked at Stan with a pout. "...You promise?"

"Geez, you look really pitiful like that." Dipper commented.

"Dipper!" Stan looked at him.

"No, it's okay. I deserved that. I mean, all the shit I put him through when I took over?" Bill shrugged.

Dipper nodded firmly and went back to work. Stan walked over and knelt in front of Bill. "I promise." He assured the demon. "I won't force you to stick around if it hurts you." He held out a hand to him. "Deal?"

Bill looked at Stan's hand and then looked at his own before taking Stan's. "Okay."

\--

"This place is crowded." Bill complained as the Pines household made their way to seats together, Soos showing them the way.

"This is worse than navigating the Hall of Probability in KL897." Ford muttered as they took their seats.

"You should try IKEA!" Mabel grinned.

"It's really big, really confusing, and smells like a warehouse. And furniture, lots of furniture." Dipper grimaced. 

"But there's arrows to follow!" Mabel said excitedly.

"Mom always takes shortcuts!" Dipper shook his head.

Bill sat quietly between Stan and Soos, looking at the big tree waiting to be decorated. There was a stage with an orchestra in front of it to the side of the tree, no doubt where the choir would be.

"Mabel, you made it!" Grenda pushed through with Candy and took a seat. "We were wondering if you were coming!"

"Your uncle doesn't normally come to this,but...it looks like you brought everyone." Candy commented, adjusting her glasses.

"You still didn't tell us why he's living with you." Grenda commented.

"It's his Redemption Arc. Dipper found him weak and powerless in the woods and now we're reforming him!" Mabel smiled.

"You think he CAN be reformed?" Grenda asked.

"Gideon was. Where is he, anyway?" Dipper asked.

"He's getting ready with everyone else." Candy pointed to the stage.

"He's singing?" Mabel asked.

"He's in the choir of his elementary school." Stan said, looking at her. "You've seen him sing, why are you so confused?"

Mabel was about to answer when they saw the stage start to fill with kids wearing green and blue robes. She squinted, then frowned. "Where is he?"

Candy pulled out binoculars and handed them to her. "First row, third from the left."

Mabel took them and focused her view on him. "Uh!? His hair is different?!"

"You think he can attend school with that big hairstyle? He only has that during the summer!" Grenda laughed.

Mabel looked at her and then back at Gideon. "But, it's so...so tame! And not...Is that really him?!"

"He's doing a lot better after last summer." Candy commented. "He attended therapy and family counseling and apologized for everything." 

Dipper glanced at Bill. He never knew the full extent of how the demon had punished Gideon for betraying him, but they hadn't gotten a chance to talk before the twins had to go back to Piedmont because he was closed-off from whatever happened to him.

"Looks like the show's about to start." Stan said as the choir director came out and thanked everyone for coming.

The choir started with "O, Christmas Tree" as people dressed as elves came out to decorate the tree. Then they started with "Deck the Halls" as the decorating began, followed by "Santa Claus is coming to town" and "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" as a bunch of Santas came through the audience and gave all the kids candy canes and kids dressed as reindeer and elves acted out the songs.

Bill looked at the candy cane he'd been given and gnawed at the plastic packaging before handing it to Stan. "Can you help me figure this out?"

Stan smiled and unwrapped it, passing it to him.

The lighting in the building changed color to blue and fake snow started to fall as Gideon started to sing "Blue Christmas" with the rest of the choir accompanying with "oo"s and background harmonics.

After that, the elves and reindeer and Santas cleared out and the choir started with "The First Noel". Bill tensed and tugged on Stan's sleeve.

"You okay?" Stan asked quietly.

Bill shook his head, keeping quiet to avoid unwanted attention. Stan nodded and got up, taking Bill's hand and quietly leading him out. Bill looked to the side and saw the Angel from before watching the show. He glanced at Bill as they passed him and Bill quickly looked away.

Stan stepped outside and closed the door, the faint sound of "Oh, come all ye faithful" reaching them through the closed doors. "You wanna get something warm to drink?"

Bill looked at him. "You're really okay not staying?"

"Kid, I only went for the kids. Did you have a good time until the religious stuff happened?" Stan asked as he walked with him to the car.

Bill looked at the building before getting in the car. "...I did, actually. I enjoyed it...and no one got hurt."

Stan grinned. "That's a step in the right direction!" He said as he started the car and drove them out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stan's an understanding guy.


	11. Not much to talk about

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After escaping the festivities, Bill and Stan go to a cafe to wait for the show to be over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gravity Falls (c) Alex Hirsch and Disney XD

"Tell me about yourself." Stan said as he sat across from Bill in the diner, a steaming mug of cocoa in front of each of them.

"...Not much to talk about." Bill shrugged.

"You've lived trillions of years and there's 'not much to talk about'?" Stan raised an eyebrow.

Bill sighed. "I'm a criminal. I got into crime when I was a kid, and most of the time I was just taken home and punished there." Bill stared at the steam rising out of his mug.

"Was your home life...bad?" Stan asked.

"I lived in a castle. I was waited on hand and foot, and honestly got bored. My father was never around unless it was to punish me, and my mother--..." He cut himself off, shaking his head. "Why am I telling you this?"

"Because I asked?" Stan shrugged. "Where was your mother?"

Bill didn't answer for a long time, until the steam was barely visible. "...She died. I was just a kid, but I always knew I'd outlive her. I was lucky she survived my birth."

"Was she sick?" Stan asked.

Bill nodded. "Terminal."

"What'd she have?" Stan asked, frowning.

Bill looked up at him. "...Humanity."

Stan stared at him, watching as the demon - no, half-demon - took a sip of his drink. He looked at his clasped hands and sighed. "Old age?"

Bill nodded. "I watched her wither away and gradually lose her mind. It got to where she couldn't remember who I was."

"Dementia." Stan cringed.

Bill gripped his mug tightly. "She was the only human I really cared about...I promised not to get attached to such finite lifeforms." He glanced up at him. "You remind me of her."

Stan smiled a bit. "Really?"

Bill nodded, then looked back at his drink. "I decided since I was going to live forever that I would just stop caring about who I hurt and spent my life having fun. Misery of others excited me, part of being a Demon, and I just partied and went crazy with others like me who just stopped caring. But, HE always showed up, and cleaned up my messes by destroying wherever I partied. He didn't come this time...guess he's done with me for good. Good." He took a big swig of his drink.

"'He'?" Stan asked.

"The jerk that helped bring me into existence by bedding his human pet." Bill said spitefully.

"Ah." Stan nodded. "Your father."

"He's not my father, he's just a sperm-bank." Bill scoffed. "The owner of the castle I grew up in. My landlord and warden."

"Wow, and I thought I had choice words for my dad!" Stan laughed.

Bill gave a half-smile, then his ears perked up when Stan's phone rang. Stan picked it up. "Hullo?" After a bit of listening, he nodded. "Alright, we'll pick you up in a moment. See you soon." He hung up and downed his drink before standing up.

Bill finished his drink and stood up when Stan did. "Hey, Fez? Can you...not tell anyone else what I told you?"

Stan smiled and left a tip before going to pay and then leading him to the door. "Relax, Bill. Your secret's safe with me." He assured him.

\--

"I saw that guy from the mall in there, but he didn't even look up when I said hi!" Mabel said as they rode home.

"The show was pretty good, maybe he was focusing on that." Dipper shrugged at her.

"Gideon was pretty good." Mabel admitted. "He wasn't singing his usual show song, the mood and tone and hair--gosh, his HAIR! It was BROKEN!"

"It wasn't put up." Ford shrugged. "It's not summer, Mabel."

"But he looked so normal!" Mabel said, then frowned a bit. "We caroled his house, but I never saw him."

"That was on a Tuesday. He had therapy." Stan said. "And the only reason I know this is because I was asked to take him to an appointment by his mother once, since his dad was at work."

"Who normally takes him?" Dipper asked.

"His dad, but the sale was going on longer than expected and he couldn't get away." Stan sighed. "You'll get a chance to talk to him, sweetie."

Bill stared out the window as they drove and then they were heading inside. Bill took off his outerwear and headed further in, pausing at the kitchen table. Glancing at the others getting their coats off, he grabbed the pen and a slip of paper before writing two words on it and retreating upstairs, dropping the slip of paper into the jar as he left it.

Dipper headed into the kitchen and stopped short, seeing the shaky, unpracticed scrawl written on the slip of paper in the jar.

[Sorry, Gideon.]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, Bill's first ever genuine and unprompted apology!
> 
> (A.N. I'd love to see a comic of the cafe scene, so if anyone wants to do that it would be awesome.)


	12. Progress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One small slip of paper has the Pines family reacting in different ways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gravity Falls © Alex Hirsch and Disney XD

Dipper sat on the couch silently, holding the tiny slip of paper in his hands. They'd gotten Bill to actually feel remorse. Whatever he did to Gideon, he felt guilty enough to write an apology for the first time. 

"There's hope for him, after all..." He said softly, a smile forming on his face.

"What's that?" Ford asked, stepping into the living room with a cup of cocoa.

"Bill finally put something in the jar." Dipper handed it over.

Ford took it, his eyes scanning the words. "Well, I'll be...Bill might have a heart in there somewhere after all."

Dipper nodded. "I think this Redemption Arc is going well."

Ford handed it back. "You should put that back in the jar."

Dipper nodded and got up, heading for the kitchen to put the slip of paper back into the jar.

\--

Bill sat in the attic closet, staring blankly at the wall. When did he start to care again? Was it because of  the townsfolk not demanding his head? He could vividly recall terrified eyes on a chubby face as he laughed over the pleas for mercy. He never took betrayal well, that was why he was so cruel to Stanford and then Gideon had betrayed him at Dipper's urging and--when did he become accustomed to using his preferred nickname in his thoughts? Ah, shit, train of thought just derailed and went tumbling into the abyss.

The door opened and he looked over to see Stan stepping inside. "...Yeah?"

Stan smiled and knelt next to him, pulling him into a hug. "I'm proud of ya."

Bill glanced away, a pinkish color tinting his golden cheeks. "It's just a slip of paper."

"But I know you'll do more, over time." Stan released him. "You'll apologize to him in-person when you feel ready to."

Bill looked at him. "...Why have you forgiven me? I haven't even apologized to you yet."

"Sometimes forgiveness comes before the apology is even thought of. And...sometimes the apology never comes." Stan had a faraway look in his eyes.

"Stan?" Bill frowned.

"After I faked my death to pretend to be Ford...dad called. Said that he expected me to do something stupid like that. Said that I deserved it for dragging everyone down. And maybe he was right...but it still hurt. Pop...never liked me. He never wanted any of us, and he got a freak and a layabout." Stan hung his head, tears hitting the floor.

Bill stared blankly before awkwardly putting his arms around Stan. "You're the most hardworking guy I've ever seen. You just need the right kind of motivation and work. This giftshop is a blessing for you, and you even opened up your heart to me. When I hurt you...I don't deserve any kindness, but you give it. I...you..." Bill struggled for words and gasped when Stan wrapped his arms around him tightly. "Anyway, you're way better than your dad. There, that's all the awkward sappiness I can manage."

Stan chuckled and slowly released him, sitting back. "Hey, it's a start." He smiled.

The door opened and Mabel looked in. "Bill? Can I talk to you?"

Stan stood up. "I'll be downstairs."

Mabel watched him go and then walked over to pull out art supplies. "Bill, come here."

Bill got up and followed her to where she was setting up an easel. "I saw this in a movie once." She started to doodle a giant triangle on who sheets of paper and colored one red and one a little bit blue and the rest red. "Okay. This was you before." She looked at the all-red one. "And this one is where you are now."

Bill frowned a bit. "Constantly angry with a bit of sad?"

"No, no! Red means bad, blue means good!" Mabel tried to explain.

"Nnnnooo, red means angry and blue means sad." Bill corrected her. "You've seen me turn red before."

Mabel sighed. "Alright, how about black and white, then?"

"What are you trying to show me, Mabel?" Bill asked.

"Your redemption progress, but we got hung up on the colors." Mabel sighed heavily.

Bill shrugged. "Well, I got confused."

"Anyway!" Mabel flailed her arms. "You're doing a great job, keep at it!"

Bill chuckled. "Okay, Mabel."

"Mabel! Can you come help me with something?" Dipper called.

Mabel sighed. "I am needed." She said dramatically, then headed for the door. "You can draw if you want to."

Bill nodded, looking at the pictures on the easel silently as she left. "Red means bad, huh...?" He mumbled, going to the easel and starting to draw on a blank paper. "I suppose if you get sad, it means you're not heartless so you're not all bad. Blue means remorse? Maybe I'm over analyzing..." He faltered, moving the pencil away from the easel. A blue child was knelt next to a bed with a person lying in it and a red person with multiple eyes on their body stood behind the child. "...This is getting too personal." He crumpled it up and threw it in a random direction. "I don't care...I don't care...I. Don't. Care." He doodled up a picture of Stan and smiled a bit as he drew the fez. "I like his better." He said quietly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bill gets hung up on the weirdest things.


	13. Surprise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bill is dressed in another costume as the Pines family dresses up and goes out together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gravity Falls © Alex Hirsch and Disney XD

"So, you want me to dress in the new reindeer outfit and stand on this thing?" Bill gestured to the machine.

"Well, if you feel like dancing that would be good." Mabel grinned. "Don't worry, Dipping Dot's going in with you!"

"A detail added last-minute by Stan." Dipper grumbled as he tugged the elf hat onto his head.

"And what does this do, exactly?" Bill asked.

Ford chuckled. "Let's just say that you'll bring smiles to a lot of faces."

"Why are there rockets on the sides?" Bill asked.

"It's a sur-PRISE, come on!" Mabel pulled Bill into the Shack. "Go get dressed! Grunkle Stan, Grunkle Ford and I will be waiting in the car!"

Bill sighed and went into Ford's room to get the costume Stan stored away. "Pushy, pushy!"

When he came out, he saw Stan adjusting a Santa hat on his head and a fake beard. He was also dressed in a Santa suit, while Mabel was wearing an elf costume and Ford had fake antlers on his head.

"What's going on?" Bill asked as he walked over to join Dipper on the machine. Ford nodded and pushed a button and a clear dome formed around them, fake snow fluttering around them lightly. "Hey!"

"Start the car, Grunkle Stan!" Mabel grinned. Ford pushed another button and the machine lifted into the air, hovering above the snow.

"It'll be over quickly." Dipper sighed. "At least it's warm in here."

Stan turned on a portable stereo and Christmas music started to blare as they drove off to town.

\--

Bill noticed a long line of cars ahead of them as they neared the town. "Whoa, what's with the traffic?"

"It's not traffic. It's the Gravity Falls Christmas Parade." Dipper explained. "We're gonna drive through town, then visit a few other towns before coming back for the big feast at the end of the event. Those are floats ahead of us, and marching bands and dancers. Grunkle Stan said this is the first year he's been asked to participate, was really excited."

"Wow. So, we just hang out in here the whole time?" Bill asked.

"The whole time. Aside from short breaks." Dipper nodded.

"Well, at least we have each other!" Bill draped his arm over Dipper's shoulder.

"Yeah, thanks to Grunkle Stan." Dipper sighed heavily.

"Guess he decided that it wasn't fair to put me in here by myself." Bill grinned.

The car started to move again, music blaring as Stan got out candy canes to throw into the crowd with a cheerful "Ho-ho-ho!". Bill and Dipper waved to the crowd and Dipper found himself dancing to the music. Bill tried to follow along, but gave up pink-faced after he nearly knocked Dipper over twice.

The crowd outside was intense, faces blending together as Bill looked at them. He tried to blink his vision back to normal, but he was feeling really woozy and slumped to the floor of the snowglobe. Dipper rubbed his head encouragingly and smiled, earning a few "Aww"s from the audience at the "elf petting the poor tired reindeer".

"You doing alright?" Dipper asked quietly.

"Feel dizzy." Bill admitted.

"Alright, you lie down for a bit. I'll keep the crowd entertained." Dipper smiled, gently stroking his hair. "A bit of rest will help, right?"

Bill nodded, laying down with his head on Dipper's lap, his legs and arms curled up in front of him as he let his eye slip closed.

Dipper smiled, gently stroking his hair as Bill slept on his lap. Grunkle Stan was right to put him in here with Bill, he'd never get a chance to rest otherwise.

\--

Bill was woken up by movement under him and looked around to see that they'd stopped.

"You up?" Dipper asked. "Time to get out, drink water, stretch our legs, whatever else."

Bill sat up and stretched. "I feel better."

"Good. We got about five hours and I was getting bored." Dipper stepped off the platform. "I'm getting a soda, you want anything?"

Bill shrugged. "Sure."

Dipper nodded. "You can walk around, just don't go too far."

Bill looked at the empty car and got up, stepping off the platform. "Alright."

He walked along the line of parked cars, humming to himself as he examined the different designs and decor. He felt eyes on him and turned to see a blonde child in a blue choir outfit staring at him. "...Gideon."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh oh, this can't be good.


	14. Parade

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While at a rest-stop, Bill encounters Gideon face-to-face for the first time in months.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gravity Falls © Alex Hirsch and Disney XD

Gideon stared at him silently, his cold expression partially concealed by his long bangs. He stepped towards Bill, barely making a sound as he moved - almost like a ghost.

"So...it's true. You're still alive." Gideon said as he walked. "I heard, but...I didn't want to believe it. I didn't want to believe you were really wanderin' around freely, masquerading as a human."

Bill stayed silent as the human child approached him. Gideon continued, walking even closer as he spoke.

"What are they even thinking? You should be on a leash, observed at all times! Instead, you're wanderin' loose in the parking lot!"

Bill shrugged. "I think there's a tracking device on the costume."

Gideon stopped a few feet from him, staring at him. Bill was suddenly very aware of how alone the two of them were and he took a step back to put more space between them.

"Do you know..." Gideon spoke lowly. "I haven't slept without a nightmare of that day plaguin' me? How well do you sleep, demon?"

"Uhm...not well, to be honest. The holy events makes me horribly sick, I get feverish...y'know, I think I'm gonna go lie back down." Bill stepped back a bit.

"Allow me to help you."

Bill gasped as Gideon's eyes glowed under his bangs and then Bill was lifted in the air a few feet before he was slammed down to the hard cement sidewalk. "Ngh!"

"Oh, I'm sorry! Did that hurt?" Gideon asked, his expression cold and malicious. "Maybe you need a softer place to land?" His eyes glowed again and Bill was lifted into the air again.

"Gideon, STOP!" Grenda ran over and grabbed his shoulder, breaking his concentration, letting Bill fall back to the ground again.

"What do you want?!" Gideon demanded.

"Mabel said that he's not bad anymore! Don't hurt him!" Grenda insisted. "Look at him, he's completely powerless! I know you hate him, but don't BECOME him!"

Gideon glanced over at the demon that was struggling to pick himself up. "But, he..."

"'m sorry..."

Gideon whirled to look at Bill fully. "What did you just say?"

Bill slowly looked up at him, wiping a bit of blood from his nose. "I'm...I'm sorry. I really hurt you...and enjoyed every moment. I deserve whatever punishment you dish out." He said, bowing his head submissively.

Gideon glanced at Grenda and then back at Bill, trying to think if he heard anything but sincerity in the demon's words. "You're...sorry. Prove it."

Bill was silent for a bit, and then he walked closer before kneeling at Gideon's feet, gripping his choir robe and pressing his lips to the bottom of it. It was such a submissive, degrading act and Gideon and Grenda were both taken aback. 

"A-Alright, you can let go, now." Gideon stepped back. "And get up. I haven't forgiven you, but...I accept your apology."

Bill got up, shaking his head when Grenda offered her hand to help him, and bowed his head before turning to go.

"Wait, don't you want makeup to cover that up?" Gideon asked.

"These bruises will heal by the time I get back to the car. Natural ability is unaffected by the holy energy." Bill said quietly as he walked. "I liked your singing the other day. Very pretty."

Gideon pursed his lips and headed back to his float. Grenda sighed, heading back to her mother's car.

\--

"There you are! I was about to go looking for you!" Dipper said as Bill rejoined him at the platform. "Soda?" He offered him the can.

Bill took it and opened it quietly. "I saw Gideon." He said quietly.

"Yeah? How'd that go?" Dipper asked, drinking his soda.

"I apologized. He doesn't forgive me, but he accepted it." Bill took a sip of his soda.

"Why is there red on your costume?" Mabel commented from her seat in the car.

"Fell in the mud." Bill lied.

"Red mud?" Dipper raised an eyebrow.

"...Okay, you got me. I fell down on the sidewalk." Bill sighed.

"Well, must've been a nasty spill." Mabel got out of the car. "Are you okay?"

"I've already healed from it. Sorry about the costume." Bill shrugged.

"Aw, nothing a quick visit to the bathroom won't fix! Dipper, can you take him?" Mabel looked at the stain.

Dipper nodded, taking Bill's drink and handing both the sodas to Mabel. "Don't drink them."

"I don't know whose is whose." Mabel shrugged.

Dipper led Bill to the bathroom. As soon as they stepped in, Bill's ears drooped and he scrunched his nose. "Yeah, it smells." Dipper laughed, leading him to the sink. "We'll be out in a bit." He got paper towels and soaked them in water before dabbing at the stain. "So, you wanna tell me what really happened?"

Bill glanced away. "Gideon."

"Ah." Dipper nodded.

"I deserved it." Bill hung his head.

Dipper sighed, continuing to dab at the stain. "Well, you apologized. That's what matters. Nothing broken?"

"Just bruises and scrapes that already faded." Bill nodded. 

"Well, I've done all I can." Dipper threw away the paper towels and washed his hands. "We'll give it a proper wash at home later, but this will do until the end of the parade."

Bill nodded quietly and followed Dipper out. He stepped on the platform and accepted the soda Dipper took back from Mabel, looking pensive.

\--

"How you holding up?" Stan asked as everyone got back to their cars or floats. "Do you think you can bear through the rest? Mabel could take your place if you want to sleep in the car."

Bill shook his head. "I'll be okay. Dipper's letting me nap on his lap when I need to."

"Oh, but I wanna take a turn in the snowglobe!" Mabel chimed in excitedly. "Bill, you can take my spot! I'm going in with Dipper!"

"So she says." Dipper shrugged.

"Well, if she insists." Bill stepped off the platform and Mabel got on. Stan helped Bill into the back seat of the car and the snowglobe went up around the elven twins.

"Let's go!" Mabel posed dramatically.

Bill buckled himself in and looked up as Ford got in the car, carrying various snacks from the rest stop.

Ford looked at Bill with a surprised expression and then looked at Mabel and Dipper before offering Bill a cookie. "Here. Get some energy back."

"Thanks." Bill took it and quietly nibbled on it as the car started up and started to move with the rest of the parade.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that could've gone worse.


	15. Switch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mabel switches bodies with Bill, but for what reason?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gravity Falls © Alex Hirsch and Disney XD

The day after the parade, Candy and Grenda came over to talk with Mabel, which led to Mabel asking Bill some weird questions about his anatomy.

"So, you bleed red, right?" She asked, looking up from her knitting. "So there's iron in your blood. Do you know what your blood-type is?"

"Why do you need to know?" Bill asked her.

"Just a question." Mabel looked back at her knitting, then looked at him. "Oh, uhm, Candy was wondering what you're like...uhm, down there."

Bill looked away from the TV. "...What?"

"Y'know, she wants to know if you've got tentacles or something." Mabel shrugged.

"...That's none of her business. She's not my type and so she'll never know." Bill looked at the TV again.

Mabel pouted. "But, I also wanna know! Is it like a werewolf's?"

"Why would it be like a werewolf?" Bill rolled his eyes. "I have no dog DNA in me at all."

Mabel set down her knitting. "But, I wanna know about you! I mean, you won't even tell me your blood-type, what if you need a transfusion?"

"I won't." Bill got up and left the room.

Mabel looked thoughtful. "Okay, then....if you won't tell me, I'll find out for myself."

\--

"We're home." Dipper said as he came in with Stan and Ford. "Mabel? Bill?"

"Are you here?" Ford walked over to the living room and didn't see anyone. Shrugging, he headed to his room to put things away and stopped short. "Mabel, are you alright?!"

Dipper and Stan ran over to see Mabel sitting on a pale blue rug. She was looking irritable and holding her head in frustration. "Mabel, what's wrong?" Dipper asked.

"Foooooooord, why do you still have this thing? After the mess you and McGucket had?" Mabel looked up at him. "I'm NOT Mabel!"

Dipper looked down and saw a familiar tag. "...Oh. Oh no, Bill, what did she do?"

"She asked me a bunch of weird personal questions I refused to answer, then tricked me into coming in here and stole my body!" Bill stood up, then sat back down. "I don't like her skirt, can I borrow your pants?"

Dipper resisted the urge to laugh and went to get a pair of pants. When he came back, Stan and Ford were discussing how to safely destroy the rug once Bill and Mabel switched back. He passed them and handed Bill the pants. "Here, Bill."

"Thanks. Turn around, I'm taking this stupid skirt off." Bill started to unfasten it.

Dipper stepped out of the room and closed the door to give Bill privacy. "I bet her friends are involved." He sighed heavily.

The door opened and Bill stepped out. "Do you have a ponytail holder? Her hair is way too long."

"Mabel does." Dipper walked off to the attic, Bill right behind him.

"So...any idea why she would randomly want to switch bodies with me?" Bill asked as Dipper got out Mabel's hair kit.

"I suspect it has to do with those questions." Dipper handed him a ponytail holder.

Bill took it and stood in front of the mirror as he tied Mabel's hair back. "I think it's time for Rapunzel to cut her hair." He made a face.

"Mabel would kill you if you did, and you aren't exactly invincible right...now?" Dipper knelt by the closet curiously and picked up a crumpled ball of paper.

"I wasn't saying that I would cut it, but if she does anything weird to my body, I just might." Bill finished tying his hair back and looked over. "What're you doing over there?"

"Did you draw this?" Dipper held up the picture.

Bill glanced away. "...Yes."

"What is it?" Dipper asked.

"A memory." Bill walked over and took it.

"Who's in it?" Dipper asked.

"...The Cipher family." Bill stared at the picture. "Mother just died of old age..."

"So...are you the blue one? Blue means sad, right?" Dipper looked at it. "Why didn't you draw a blue triangle? Oh well."

Bill turned away. "I didn't want it to be obvious."

"So, the red guy?" Dipper asked.

"A bad, bad man." Bill crumpled up the picture and threw it in the wastebasket. "And that's all you need to know. Let's go get my body back from Shooting Star." He walked out of the room with an indignant swish of Mabel's hair.

"Okay, I expect they went to Candy's place, or maybe Grenda's." Dipper followed him out. "I know where Grenda lives, so we'll try there first."

"What could they want with Bill's body?" Ford wondered as they went out to the car.

"I dunno, but if Shooting Star gives me a tattoo, I am cutting her hair." Bill said with a huff.

"Well, can you tell us what questions she asked?" Stan asked.

"Ugh. Blood, genitals, stuff like that!" Bill glared at Mabel's reflection in the window as he buckled in, Dipper next to him.

"Ooookay, those are weird questions." Dipper made a face.

"Less like a giggly teenage girl and more like a mad-scientist-in-training." Ford frowned. "Hold on, then. The whole town knows Bill isn't allowed to be away from us. They can't go anywhere they'd be seen!"

"Yeah? So, where'd they take my body?" Bill asked.

"Somewhere Mabel knows about, but no one else in town..." Ford frowned.

"So, either the Bunker, or the Society of the Blind Eye headquarters!" Dipper chimed in. "They'd have to go into town to enter the Society, they must be at the Bunker!"

"Out of the car." Ford unbuckled and got out.

"What bunker? Ford, what's the big hurry?" Stan got out after Ford, Bill and Dipper.

"My secret underground bunker. There's a--"

"A shapeshifting alien that Great Uncle Ford raised and did experiments on." Dipper cut in. "Mabel knows about it, and it's currently frozen in the shape of me screaming in agony."

"That's unnerving." Bill cringed.

"All the more reason to hurry. If Candy or Grenda saw it before Mabel did..." Dipper ran faster into the treeline.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Panic! At the Bunker.


	16. Doppleganger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The search is on! Mabel, Candy and Grenda have run off with Bill's body, leaving Bill in Mabel's body! What will they find in the Bunker?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gravity Falls © Alex Hirsch and Disney XD

"Mabel!" Dipper called once they got through the security protocol. "I know you're in here!"

They found what looked like the remains of a picnic lunch and continued on until they finally stopped Candy and Grenda walking with Bill's body.

"Shooting Star!" Bill raised his voice, echoing off the walls. The trio visibly cringed before running off. "Hey, get back here with my body!" 

"Come on, let's go after them!" Dipper ran on ahead, Bill and his uncles right behind. "Mabel, stop!"

They chased them into a familiar cavern and Dipper glanced around as they slowed to a stop. "They could be anywhere..."

"Split up?" Stan suggested.

Dipper looked unsure. "Alright, but remember what I told you! The shapeshifter is in my shape, dressed in my summer clothes, it's not me!" He ran off.

"Uh...Okay, Fordsy. You know the way around." Bill looked at him.

"I don't like Dipper going alone." Stan frowned. "Ford, you take Bill. I'll catch up with Dipper." He headed after Dipper.

Bill watched him go, then looked at Ford. "So...lead on, I guess."

Ford sighed and pulled out a device. "Hopefully this will point us to Mabel and not you." He fiddled with it.

The device started to beep, echoing off the walls, and they walked down one of the paths in the dimly-lit cavern.

"Where's the light coming from?" Bill asked.

Ford looked at him. "Shouldn't you know this?"

"I'm attempting to make small-talk, Ford. Where is the light coming from?" Bill repeated.

Ford sighed and gestured to the walls. "Glowing stones. I have notes on why they glow back in the lab, if you want the specifics."

"Wow. Okay, let's try again. What'd you guys go out to do today?" Bill asked.

"We were visiting Fiddleford." Ford said. "Obviously, we couldn't bring you along. So, we left you in Mabel's care."

"Which she failed." Bill scoffed, then looked to the left. "...Dipper?"

"What?" Ford looked at him. "Dipper went the other way." 

Bill walked down the left path. "I heard him, just now!"

Ford sighed and followed him. "But you can't have, Dipper went the other...way." He faltered, seeing what looked like Dipper rummaging in a cabinet in the small room they found. He was dressed in Dipper's summer clothes and stared at them like a deer caught in headlights.

"Uhh..." "Dipper" glanced around and then took off at a run.

"Hey, wait!" Bill ran after him.

"Careful, it could be the shapeshifter!" Ford said, chasing after Bill.

They caught up with "Dipper" and found him ducking into a tent set up along one of the walls. Then the tent flap moved and another Dipper looked out. Ford noticed this one was wearing a hat that had 3 written on it.

"Uh...what?" Bill frowned. "Wait, hold on...I know you! You're one of his clones!"

"Clones?" Ford looked at Bill.

"I didn't know you were still alive!" Bill grinned.

"Well...we are." "3" said as the other one came out with a hat that had a 4 written on it. "We're hiding from the snow and rain." He continued.

"Huh, how about that?" Bill grinned. "Anyways, you seen Candy and Grenda?"

"Who?" "4" asked.

"Those girls Mabel met at the party." "3" reminded him. "No, we haven't seen anyone."

"Oh. Well, guess they went the other way." Bill shrugged. "Let's go, Ford."

"Wait, I want to know more about them!" Ford looked fascinated. "You're clones of Dipper?"

The clones looked at each other and slowly nodded.

"Ford, I doubt they're going anywhere, you can come back and find them later." Bill started to walk back the way they came.

"Oh, but I have so many questions!" Ford looked at Bill.

"I'm walking off, completely unsupervised!" Bill called back.

"Alright, alright!" Ford looked towards the clones longingly before he followed Bill away from them. "But, I'll be back to talk to them!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Bill rolled Mabel's eyes, sighing heavily.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the end, Ford IS a scientist.

**Author's Note:**

> With Bill at their mercy, what will the Pines family do?


End file.
